CWC parents throw spikes in the street around Stoner ES

CWC parent removing graffiti filled fence cover

   This last week was Spring break and school was out, but this doesn't mean CWC stopped creating safety issues in our community. Based on the orders of CWC administration, a group of CWC parents threw spikes on the sidewalk and street around the Stoner Elementary School campus**. If this sounds too crazy to be true, then please read on.

    On Tuesday, April 22 around 6 pm, a crew of 3 Citizens of the World Mar Vista parents (and two children) were seen removing the tagged up CWC fence covering. An hour later, the fence covering was down, but the removal started a multiple day safety issue in our neighborhood.

CWC spikes picked up on April 15

   That evening, I went to check out the removed fence covering and began to notice some of the metal brackets that were used to secure the fence were lying all along the sidewalk and in street. There were scores of brackets all over the place. This was a very dangerous situation.  These brackets created a serious safety issue in that they could pop a car or bike tire, topple a scooter or skateboard, or even puncture through a shoe.
   My wife, a neighbor and I spent an hour cleaning up the spikes. We picked up all that we could find on the sidewalk and street, but could see many more spikes inside campus that we could not reach.
   I alerted CWC (and cc'd LAUSD) to the danger and asked that CWC come an clean up the dangerous situation that they created. I received no response.

More CWC spikes April 18

    On Friday, my wife was walking past the CWC entrance when she heard a "clink, clink" at her feet.  She looked down and found that there were still spikes around the school. She picked up all the spikes she could find.
   On Saturday morning, I emailed CWC to follow up and demanded that they clean up this safety issue immediately.  These spikes should have never been in the street in the first place and should have been immediately removed when CWC was notifed of the danger on Wednesday morning.
    The CWC principle responded that she would deal with problem in a day or two. A concerned LAUSD administrator immediately responded to the principle's email saying that if CWC could not be there that day, she would go herself.
    An hour later, I get an email from the CWC principle saying that she inspected the area and didn't see any problem. She also thanked me for alerting her to the problem (but not for cleaning up their dangerous mess that CWC created, but just for alerting her to the problem; a problem that she did not see as serious and thought could be addressed in a few days.) An hour after that, I received an email from CWC director stating that she had just been to the area and there was "not much to speak of" and that she cleaned up a few remaining brackets.

More CWC spikes found April 19 using magnet

   Ten minutes after receiving the directors email, I went to inspect the area myself. I took a magnet on a string and went "fishing" for brackets with my daughters. We found another two dozen brackets in the street and on the sidewalk.

    These brackets left on the ground are basically spikes that could cause serious injury. These brackets were left on the ground by the CWC parents who removed the fence covering. These spikes in the community are an example of the problems that occur when volunteer parents are performing the functions and duties of paid professionals. As such, these "helpful" parents end up creating more problems for all involved.
 
    This is another disturbing example of the safety issues CWC is bringing to our campus and neighborhood. It's troubling that even when a safety issue is pointed out to CWC administration, they either do not see a problem (principle) or try to minimize the extent of the problem (director). These spikes should have never been left on the street and sidewalk in the first place, and should have been addressed and cleaned up when CWC was first alerted to the danger, not days later after multiple complaints.

**Just so I am clear, I'm not saying that CWC directly ordered parents to throw spikes in the street, but CWC's reckless order to have volunteer parents remove the fence covering resulted in the spikes being thrown in the street. Therefore, based on the orders of CWC admin, CWC parents were throwing spikes in the streets.

CWC fence covering removed

Today our neighborhood looks more open, inviting, and welcoming, all because the CWC fence covering has been removed.  We hope this is permanent change.

    Just like many of the other issues with the co-location of CWC on the Stoner ES campus, what is a source of pride for CWC, is a sore point for everyone else. To CWC, the fence covering gave a "A feeling of cocoon-like safety by being surrounded by a beautiful and private fence." and was "Helping the space to feel 'kinder and gentler...'" To the Stoner and local community the covering represented separation and segregation, entitlement and elitism, and a lack of respect for the local community.

    The fence covering has been a sore point since it was first put up. One day, the neighborhood was an open and inviting place, then without warning, there was separation and the claim that fence covering was for a "true community."

     The fence covering was one of the most blatant examples of the segregation that CWC is bringing to the Stoner ES campus. The separation and inequality was even written directly on the fence covering: "A true community of learners." This phrase was written in two places on the fence covering.  Could they not realize how insulting this message would be to the home school and surrounding community? "A true community" What does that say to the people in the community who live in the area? Are we not a real community?  Was CWC even aware that the Stoner motto is "a learning community?" If CWC is a "true" community and "true" learners, what does that say to the Stoner students? Are they a false community? Are they untrue learners?
     Everyday local residents and Stoner students had to pass by this backhanded insult to our community and school. Residents and Stoner parents complained about the fence covering, but their pleas fell on deaf ears and so resentment in community began to simmer.

    On Friday March 7, a red "CxC" appeared on the fence covering over the CWC logo. The tag was quickly covered over in white, but was still visible.

The following Monday, March 10, two new CxC tags showed up.

 Then on April 6 the fence covering tagged all over. This time with a stronger profanity filled message.

    Since the fence covering is now attracting gang activity, local residents and Stoner parents have urged CWC to remove the fence covering.

    The covering is down now. For the safety of the neighborhood and school, let's hope the covering stays down.

Stoner/Cwc parent liaison meeting cancelled

Today's parent liaison meeting was cancelled and will be rescheduled for after Spring break.
    This is a rather disappointing turn of events. There are pressing issues to discuss, most importantly safety.
   With the latest graffiti incident,  it should be a priority to get both schools parents together as soon as possible to discuss safety for the entire campus.
   Plus, we still have a safety problem on campus of CWC parents entering the students only bathroom. The signs have been changed three times, getting bigger each time, and still the message is not getting through.
     Also, we have the issue of traffic and pedestrian safety on the streets around the Cwc entrance.
     Oh, and there is also....I guess we'll have to wait another two weeks.

More gang activity at Citizens of the World Charter

This is getting ridiculous.  Over the weekend, CWC's fence covering was tagged up really badly. 

While we here at this blog do not condon this behavior, it is not surprising given the neighborhood and the on going problems with this charter co-location.
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There is an old folks tale in the neighborhood; a legend, really. When the land was filled with chaos, and lawlessness abound,  only the lawless were able to bring order and safety to this land.

During the 1992 LA Riots, the city was in chaos.  Police and firefighter were busy stopping looting and fires all over the city.
As the legend goes, a group of Culver City gang members met and decided they were not going to let their neighborhood be looted and burned to the ground. Their top priorities were the Johnston's Market (now Northgate) and Stoner Elementary because that's where their moms shop and that's where their families go to school. 

Like some kind of scene out of a movie, groups of cholos lined their cars up in the Stoner and Top Value parking lots with their headlights on facing out to the street and stood guard.
...and so, in our city's darkest hour, CxC became the unlikely protectors of the neighborhood; These hommies turned heros, these gangstas turned guardians, these sinners acting as saints; they kept order and protected the neighborhood's most valuable assets. While the rest of the city burned, no harm reached our sleepy corner of LA.

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   Now, there is a new threat to the neighborhood. Our children are not safe at school and are facing segregated conditions. The streets are dangerous. There have been complaints filed, letters written, and protests held asking for relief from these unjust conditions, and yet the authorities do nothing.

   When the law refuses to act...

Traffic & safety woes continue at CWC Mar Vista

Yesterday after school, my wife, infant daughter and nephew, who attends CWC, were almost run over in a crosswalk when a CWC parent drove in reverse out of the Lindblade Place cul da sac and continued in reverse through the pedestrian crosswalk on Lindblade Street. The car came so close to them that my wife hit the car’s trunk with her hand to alert the driver to stop. The driver stopped and turned around with an annoyed look. When he realized what happened, he gave an embarrassed shrug before speeding off.

Embarrassed? Really? What is wrong with these citizens? Yes, how embarrassing would it be to have run over my wife, infant daughter and nephew in a crosswalk while driving reverse? When you almost run over someone because of your recklessness, a shrug is not the correct response. A mea culpa for this dangerous behavior should have been in order, but this shameless behavior from the CWC community is not surprising.

CWC has a culture of entitlement that manifests itself as disrespect to the community and a flouting of the law when they are in our neighborhood. During drop off and pick up times our quiet residential street turns into a lawless land where people do whatever they want: drive in the middle of the street, park in the red, block driveways and even drive in reverse down the street among other offenses. It’s not surprising that we are still seeing traffic issues on Lindblade and that the problems are becoming worse.

 Let’s look at few examples from just yesterday:

• Here is a CWC car parked at 7:43 AM in the bus loading zone which begins at 7 AM*

*The CWC father and child entered campus through the Stoner gate and not the CWC entrance.

• Here we have a CWC car parked in front of a driveway

• …and the worst one:

Below is a video sent to me today by a community member, that shows almost the exact same behavior that scared my wife yesterday afternoon, but this incident happened earlier that same day at another intersection. In the video a CWC community member:

• Doesn’t stop at stop sign going south on Stoner Ave.
• Parks in red zone in front of fire hydrant
• Reverses into an intersection
• Drives through a cross walk
• Does not stop at stop sign going west on Lindblade St.*
(*This may not be illegal since he was technically never behind the stop sign because he drove through the crosswalk…oh, right.)

What makes this most infuriating is that this citizen is illegally parked just few feet away from the loading zone that was created for CWC and that upset local residents by taking away parking spot from the community. Why would someone feel so entitled and exempt from the law that they think that this behavior was acceptable? Is this how these worldly citizens behave in their own neighborhood or just ours?

The traffic safety has been an on-going issue with this colocation. On October 16 2013, the Argonaut ran a story on the traffic problems caused by the colocation of Citizens of the World Mar Vista on the Stoner Avenue Elementary campus. It’s been 5 months and just like most all the other complaints against CWC, the situation has only gotten worse.

What can be done about this charter school’s community lack of basic citizenship and the safety problems that it causes? We don’t want to wait until we have a tragedy on the street like happened at CWC Hollywood until something is done about the safety in the neighborhood.

Yesterday, I was very lucky that my family was not hurt or worse. If CWC’s community behavior continues, someone else might not be so lucky.

LCFF plans for Stoner ES

Yesterday, LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer visited Stoner Elementary to a packed library to discuss the LCFF and what funding priorities we would like for Stoner ES. We were very excited to learn that funding will be increasing for the next 8 years. Now, we just need to decide how we would like it used.

 The number one concern for Stoner parents was campus safety, but only in terms of the safety and security issues that are being caused by CWC. While the meeting was intended to be a discussion of the LCFF, the audience kept bring the discussion back to the problems caused by the charter.

Ignoring the problems caused by CWC, Stoner parents priorities include:
-smaller class
-classes in civics
-increase in teacher pay
-music, art & dance
-increase parental involvement and development.
-increase in instruction time

We were also informed that our request for instruments for our school had been placed. We are excited and looking forward to having a strong music and art program at Stoner ES.

Zimmer to visit Stoner tomorrow

ATTENTION blog followers: No need to call the riot police, it's just another announcement of an LAUSD official visiting Stoner ES.
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Tomorrow at 8:30, LAUSD council member Steve Zimmer will be visiting Stoner ES to discuss the LCFF.
   This is a great chance to let LAUSD know how we would like this money spent:
-smaller class sizes
-more instruction time
-dance, music & art programs
-better computers
-sports program
-parental development/education